A Dad Embarasses His Son with Love

Every day, for 170 days, Dale Price waved goodbye to his 16 year old son as he rode to school on the bus….while wearing a different costume. Yes, Dale dressed in 170 different costumes during the school year, everything from Elvis to the Little Mermaid. His son at first found it embarrassing, but soon he and his friends came to enjoy seeing what new costume his dad would step out in next. Dale says he did it out of love, “It’s a way of letting him know that we really care about him, but doing something a little different. It’s a father’s way of saying I love you,” he explained.

What do you think–is this a dad showing his love in a goofy way, or just too silly for your tastes?

Each of us have our own ways, Tank. Sometimes it’s not a matter of the other guy being “wrong,” but of us not understanding. There’s a familial closeness implied that a lot of us would have loved to have in our childhoods.

“Sometimes it’s not a matter of the other guy being ‘wrong,’ but of us not understanding.”

Sometimes. And sometimes the man who appears to be acting selfishly is, in fact, doing just that. I do not want to pretend to know what’s in the hearts and minds of others, but that’s my take on the situation.

My dad used to do this thing whenever he would come home from work to find me and my friends hanging out. He would just shout “DUUUDES!” And at first it embarrassed me but all my buddies got a kick out of it. This is what that reminds me of.

Dad’s will always find a way to embarrass their sons. It’s inevitable. Some sons will find it embarrassing when their dad says “I love you.” For other boys, it’ll be when his dad dresses up as a pirate to wave goodbye.
The important thing is to make an effort to show your boys you care in whatever way that works for you.
Personally, I find the pirate approach funny as hell. I love it.

I think there’s a big difference between “interested” and “interesting”. A parent should be interestED in their kids. Not be focused on “being interesting” to their friends as a way to show they like their kid.

I’d be quite interested myself to know statistics on how long he spent working out his daily show-off costumes compared to how much time he spent factually INTERESTED in what his kid was doing and needed help with.

In this age of “non-involvement” by many parents I think it’s great that the dad is showing interest in his son. Everyone will define what the behavior “is” or “is not” and none of them are “right”. My dad was killed in an accident when I was 15 and I would trade having him do any of these actions, if it meant he were still alive.

I’m kind of with Tank. My way of showing love to my son (and my daughters) is to hug them and tell them “I love you” nearly every day. I applaud the dad above for his creativity and effort, so I’m not throwing him under the bus. Just not my style.

During the 17th century, when trade between England and Japan became prominent, there were scholars on both sides trying to learn the language of the other. The Japanese scholars kept coming across a word they had no definition for. They studied it in it’s various contexts to try to understand it’s meaning and purpose. The Japanese language does not have the word “love” in it. The closest translation they came up with was, :”I will die for you”. I asked a friend of mine, who’s Japanese, what mother’s tell to their children, husbands and wives, or close friends tell to each other. She said that the Japanese, to this day, do not say, “I love you” or even, “I will die for you,” they know the commitment and bond they share by their actions, words, and deeds toward one another.

A workmate of mine once took this a bit too far. One fine Sturday morning, my friend had just got out of the shower when the doorbell rang. Hustling to put on a robe, he ran downstairs and opened the door to three of his son’s friends. He invited them to wait in the lounge while he roused his son.

His son was always a late sleeper and it took him a while to get moving.

Some minutes later, my friend’s son came into the lounge to find his dad conversing very normally and matter-of-factly with his three rather spooked friends.

The reason they were spooked? His dad had changed out of the robe into one of his wife’s dresses.

I think it’s great! If that is not your style then good for you. I believe that all teenagers are embarassed by their parents, whatever they do. I believe as the years progress this will be a story that their family will tell over and over. That is priceless! Keep up the good work Dale and don’t pay attention to grumpy people with no sense of humor.

There is no such thing as a “goofy way” to show your love.. Kudos Dad.. Who cares what everyone else thinks. You and your son will have these memories for life. And how wonderful they are. To those who think this is “stupid” let me just say that my son has a brain tumor. Now pretend this is YOUR son.. He may not live. Will you still hesitate to SHOW your son how much you love him? Three words ” I love you” anyone can say them. Too easy. Dont tell me that you love me SHOW ME !!!

Haha I’m 16 and my Dad was 16 when i was born , I live with my Mom …. FYI irrelevant really hah . Dads real cuddly and shit . He calls me honey bunny and Infront of my friends I get embarrassed but when it’s just me , him and his wife I’m ok with it , being a 16 year old guy . He kisses me on cheek and hugs me a lot . He pushes me along with Mom to be the best I can be with academics and shit and I have a 4.0 and he spoils me . All the girls in my class and even my Ex GF reckon he’s hot hahahaha and go your Dad can hug and kiss me anywhere any day … Gross but funny . I love my Dad he’s cool as and yeah .

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